Cosby accuser Lili Bernard: 'Andrea Constand is my Joan of Arc in the war on rape'

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (WPVI) -- Hugs abounded and tears flowed as word spread outside the Montgomery County Courthouse that comedian Bill Cosby had been found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent sexual assault.

Famed Attorney Gloria Allred represented 33 women who said Cosby did to them what he's now convicted of doing to Andrea Constand in 2004. Three of her clients testified during this retrial.

"It took a great deal of courage," said Allred. "Finally, we can say women are believed and not only on #metoo but in a court of law where they were under oath. Where they testified truthfully. Where they were attacked. Where they were smeared. Where they were denigrated."

In the courtroom, shrieks and sobs erupted when the verdict was announced.

The jury believed Andrea Constand's story that Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted in 2004. For the women who testified, this was a long journey and a day they thought might never come.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are vindicated. We are validated. And we are now part of the tsunami of women's power and justice," said Cosby accuser Victoria Valentino.

Accuser Lili Bernard thanked the jury for what they had done.

"Today this jury has shown - what the me too movement is saying, that women are worthy of being believed," she said.

Bernard went on to call Andrea Constand her Joan of Arc in the war on rape.

This was the only criminal case to arise from more than 60 women who said the former TV star drugged and molested them over five decades.

On Thursday, Cosby was convicted of all three charges he faced.

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